Professor Sharon Rozovsky Receives EPSCoR Seed Grant

Sulfur metabolism in microbes

Thomas Hanson, associate professor of marine biosciences, and Sharon Rozovsky, assistant professor of biochemistry, have received funding to study the contribution of microbial activity in the sulfur cycle. Elemental sulfur is often used as a slow-release fertilizer and is both generated and broken down by the metabolic processes of certain microbes. The project will use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to examine the synthesis and degradation of elemental sulfur by the bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum. Their research will lay the groundwork for investigating the microbial metabolism of other elements. In the future, Hanson and Rozovsky’s results may influence bioremediation strategies, possibly allowing chemical spills to be removed by nanoparticles.